Breathless
by SiriusMarauderFan
Summary: There's a lot of pressure that comes with the Potter name. Lily got her first taste of it when she was sorted. one shot.


**Author's Note:** Written for…

The Next Gen Competition. _Prompt:_ Lily Potter is sorted

**Breathless**

"I swear, they do this on purpose," Lily muttered, plopping down on the bench across from her brothers.

"Do what?" Albus asked, glancing up from the game of wizard's chess he appeared to be winning against James.

"Make so few compartments that you're forced to sit with people," she answered distastefully.

James scoffed. "Sorry, sis, are we annoying you with our socializing?"

"I'm not antisocial. I just don't want to be forced to hear everyone else talking about how excited or nervous they are about school."

"It's okay to be worried about the sorting, you know," Albus said, launching a chocolate frog in her direction. She caught it easily. "I was pretty nervous during my first time on the Express."

"I wasn't," James bragged easily, nudging a knight to take Al's queen. "I knew I'd be Gryffindor. Checkmate, by the way." He'd gone through a growth spurt over the summer, which meant his legs were annoyingly long enough for him to kick his feet up on Lily's lap across the compartment.

"Merlin, I'm not _nervous_!" she screeched, pushing the muddy shoes off her pristine robes. "I know exactly what house I'm going to be in. Nothing could surprise me."

The train was beginning to slow. Outside the window, the siblings could see Hogsmeade coming into view.

"Well, I guess we'll find out soon enough," James told her, helping Albus to pack up the chess board and pick up their candy wrappers. "See you at the sorting, sis."

:-:

The boat ride was quick and silent, just the way Lily wanted it.

She'd made sure to link arms with Hugo and Lucy and not let go until they were settled in a boat with a small curly-haired boy she'd never seen before. Thankfully, he didn't seem the chatty type. It was the first time since she left home that morning that she felt her stomach unclench and she allowed herself to enjoy the beauty of the castle.

Things seemed to go downhill from there. The minute they emptied the boats, she could feel the eyes turning toward her, just as they had on the train. She didn't pay them any attention, sticking close to her cousins and listening to Professor Longbottom's directions.

She kept her eyes down as they waited in the antechamber. Hugo was off in a corner by himself, trying to psych himself up for the impending ceremony. Lucy tended to ramble when she was nervous, but Lily couldn't focus on her words. They seemed to be drowned out by the whispering of the other students.

"-Potter, it must be. She looks just like him!"

"Gryffindor, just like the rest."

"Isn't her mum on the Harpies?"

"-probably knows everything already-"

"She's _so_ lucky!"

She was just reaching her breaking point when the door opened and Neville was leading everyone out. Lucy grabbed her hand and squeezed, and Lily couldn't be sure who was seeking comfort from whom.

The line was long, and with each passing second Lily felt more and more like she ought to turn around and go home before it was too late – before everyone saw her for what she was. But Lucy and Hugo were on either side of her, keeping her in place. They cheered loudly, joined by at least a dozen others as Lily made a slow trek to the hat.

Neville patted her shoulder reassuringly as she passed him and sat on the stool.

She looked down at the tables and felt her breath leave her. Everyone was staring at her, and now she couldn't avoid it. She tried to focus on the familiar faces: Lucy and Hugo waiting in line. James and Albus at the Gryffindor table with Freddy and Rose. Molly and Roxanne with the Ravenclaws. Dominique and Louis with the Hufflepuffs. All of them willing her to join them.

Then the hat was placed on her head, and all she could see was black.

"Such inner turmoil," the voice in her head spoke softly. Her throat went dry.

"Please, no," she thought desperately.

"It's clear, I think…"

"I can't disappoint everyone."

"_Slytherin!_"

The silence was deafening. Lily wished it was all a bad dream and she'd wake up at home, but the hat was removed and she could still see all the faces looking at her, but with new interest.

She slid off the stool dejectedly and hung her head as she prepared herself for the insults and slurs that were no doubt forming on her relative's tongues. But then the clapping started, just as it had for all the students before her.

It began at the faculty table, with the Headmistress. It slowly seeped out, emanating from every table before the minute was through. The Slytherins cheered the loudest, of course, but there were two voices that rang out from the Gryffindor crowd that hollered just as much, and Lily smiled as the knot in her stomach dissolved and she was finally free to be herself.


End file.
